Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Learning Outcomes

1. Discuss the fundamentals of

internal selection
2. Discuss Initial Assessment
Methods

Recruitment &
Selection: HUMB 313
INTERNAL SELECTION

1.

2.

3.

Refers to the assessment and

evaluation of employees from
within the organization as they
move from job to job via transfer
and promotion systems.
Initial assessment methods are
used to select internal
candidates from among the
internal applicants.
Internal assessment methods
that will be reviewed include
skills inventories, peer & self
assessments, managerial
sponsorship, and informal
discussions and
recommendations.

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Logic of prediction
As we know, predictors are used to
predict future performance based
on past experiences.
indicators of internal applicants
degree of success in past situations
should be predictive of their likely
success in new situations
Indicators used include biographical
data, cognitive ability tests and
work samples.
Types of predictors
there is usually greater depth and
relevance to the data available on
internal candidates relative to
external selection
Selection plan
important for internal selection to
avoid the problems of favoritism
and gut instinct that can be
especially prevalent in internal

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313
Initial

Assessment
Methods

Skills inventory
An immediate screening device in
applicant assessment is to rely on
existing data on employee skills.
These data can be found in personnel
files.
A traditional skills inventory is a listing of
the KSAOs held by each employee in the
organization

Peer Assessment
Assessment by peers can be used to
evaluate the promotability of an internal
candidate
A variety of methods can be used
including peer ratings, peer nominations
and peer rankings. (see exhibit 10.1)

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313
Initial

Assessment
Methods

Self Assessment
Job incumbents can be asked to evaluate
their own skills as a basis for determining
promotability
Question of realistic evaluation comes
into place (they rank highly of
themselves)
See exhibit 10.2

Managerial Sponsorship
Rely on management to spot talents
(supervisors).

Informal Discussions and Recommendations

Uses channels that are informal (coffee,
tea with potential candidate)

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Ex. 10.1: Peer Assessment

Methods

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Substantive Assessment
Methods
The internal pool is narrowed down
to candidates using the initial
assessment methods. A decision as
to which internal candidates will
become finalists usually made
using the following SAM:

Seniority and experience

Job knowledge tests
Performance appraisal
Promotability ratings
Assessment centers
Interview simulations
Promotion panels and review
boards

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HUMB 313

Overview of Seniority and

Experience

Definitions
Seniority
Length of service with
organization, department, or job
Experience
Not only length of service but
also kinds of activities an
employee has undertaken
Why so widely used?
Direct experience in a job content
area reflects an accumulated stock
of KSAOs necessary to perform job
Information is easily and cheaply
obtained
Protects employee from capricious
treatment and favoritism
Promoting senior or experienced
employees is socially acceptable -viewed as rewarding loyalty

Recruitment & Selection:

Evaluation
HUMB 313

of Seniority and

Experience

Employees typically expect promotions

will go to most senior or experienced
employee
Relationship to job performance
Seniority is unrelated to job
performance
Experience is moderately related to
job performance,
Experience is superior because it is:
a more valid method than seniority
more likely to be content valid
when past or present jobs are
similar to the future job

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HUMB 313

Job Knowledge Tests

Job knowledge includes elements of both ability
and seniority
Measured by a paper-and-pencil test or a
computer
Holds great promise as a predictor of job
performance
Reflects an assessment of what was learned
with experience
Also captures cognitive ability

Recruitment & Selection: HUMB 313

Performance Appraisal
A possible predictor of future job performance is past job
performance collected by a performance appraisal
process

Advantages
Readily available
Probably capture both ability and motivation

Weaknesses
Potential lack of a direct correspondence
between requirements of current job and
requirements of position applied for

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Overview of Assessment
Centers

Elaborated method of employee selection

Involves using a collection of predictors to
forecast success, primarily in higher-level jobs
Objective
Predict an individuals behavior and
effectiveness in critical roles, usually
managerial
Incorporates multiple methods of assessing
multiple KSAOs using multiple assessors
Refer to Exhibit 10.6

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Assessment
Center Rating
Form

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HUMB 313

Characteristics of Assessment
Centers

Participants are usually managers being

assessed for higher-level managerial jobs
Participants are evaluated by assessors at
conclusion of program
Participants take part in
several exercises over
multiple days
In-basket exercise
Leaderless group
discussion
Case analysis
Trained assessors
evaluate participants
performance

Recruitment & Selection:

HUMB 313

Other Substantive
Assessment Methods

Interview simulations
Role-play: candidate must play work
related role with interviewer
Fact finding: candidate needs to
solicit information to evaluate an
incomplete case
Oral presentations: candidate must
prepare and make an oral
presentation on assigned topic
Promotion panels and review boards
use multiple raters, which can
improve reliability and can broaden
commitment to decisions reached

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HUMB 313

Choice of
Substantive
Assessment
Methods

Exh. 10.8: Evaluation of

Substantive Assessment Methods
Effectiveness of substantive methods
No single best method to narrow
down candidate list to finalists
Job knowledge, promotability
ratings, and assessment centers are
strong in terms of reliability and
validity
Interview simulations appear to be
a promising technique for public
contact jobs

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HUMB 313

Discretionary
Assessment Methods

Narrows list of finalists to those

who will receive job offers
Decisions often made on basis
of
Organizational citizenship
behavior
Differences from external
selection
Previous finalists not
receiving job offers do not
simply disappear

Ethical Issues
Issue 1
Given that seniority is not a particularly valid predictor of
job performance, do you think its unethical for a
company to use it as a basis for promotion? Why or why
not?

Issue 2
Vincent and Peter are both sales associates, and are up
for promotion to sales manager. In the last five years, on
a 1=poor to 5=excellent scale, Vincents average
performance rating was 4.7 and Peters was 4.2. In an
assessment center that was meant to simulate the job of
sales manager, on a 1=very poor to 10=outstanding
scale, Vincents average score was 8.2 and Peters was
9.2. Assuming everything else is equal, who should be
promoted? Why?
10-18

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HUMB 313

THE END